The average UK B2B invoice is paid 35 days after issue. The bottleneck is rarely the customer's willingness — it's the inconvenience of finding the right bank account number, the right reference, and the right time of day to make the transfer. A payment link on the invoice closes that gap. The customer taps it, picks their preferred method (card, Direct Debit, Faster Payments, Pay by Bank via Open Banking), and the transaction completes in under a minute.
Card payments — Stripe UK with Apple Pay and Google Pay
Stripe UK accepts every major card scheme (Visa, Mastercard, American Express) plus Apple Pay and Google Pay for tap-to-pay on mobile. Fees are 1.5% + 20p for European cards, 2.9% + 20p for international cards. Same-day settlement to your UK bank account on weekdays. Strong Customer Authentication (3D Secure 2) handled automatically per PSD2 regulations.
Direct Debit — GoCardless for recurring or larger payments
GoCardless via Bacs Direct Debit is the cheapest way to receive recurring payments in the UK — 1% capped at £2 per transaction. Best for retainers, subscriptions and any recurring B2B billing. 3-day lead time on first payments, 2 days on subsequent ones. Customer authorises once; you trigger collections whenever you invoice.
Open Banking — pay-by-bank in under 30 seconds
Open Banking lets the customer push a Faster Payment from their bank to yours without typing the account number. They tap the link, choose their bank from a list (every major UK bank including Tide, Monzo Business, Starling), authenticate in their banking app, confirm the amount. The payment lands in your account within 90 seconds. Fee is typically 0.5%, often lower than card processing.
Choosing the right payment method per invoice
Different invoice types suit different payment methods. A one-off invoice from a new customer benefits from a card payment link — quick, no setup, immediate confirmation. A recurring retainer suits GoCardless Direct Debit — set up once at the start of the relationship, automatic collection thereafter, minimal fees. A large invoice from a known customer (over £5,000) suits Open Banking or bank transfer — card fees become significant at that size.
4invoices presents all options on the same payment page. The customer chooses. You receive the funds in your settlement account — same UK bank account regardless of which method they used. Reconciliation matches the inbound payment to the invoice via the unique reference, with no manual matching required.
Failed payments are handled by the payment provider with retry logic and customer notification. For Direct Debit, if the bank rejects (insufficient funds, account closed), GoCardless retries up to 4 times with increasing delays. For card, Stripe retries via Smart Retries with a typical 2-day window. We surface failed payments in your dashboard with the failure reason so you can intervene if needed.
Frequently asked
What's the difference between Stripe UK and Stripe Connect?
Stripe UK is the standard processor that lets you receive payments directly into your business account. Stripe Connect adds multi-party functionality — useful if you're a marketplace splitting payments between yourself and partners. For straight invoice collection, standard Stripe UK is sufficient.
How long does GoCardless take to set up?
Account verification takes 1-3 working days (you upload Companies House registration, bank statement, ID). Customers can authorise Direct Debit immediately once you're set up — they tap the link, fill in their account details, confirm. First collection lands 5 working days later (Bacs cycle).
Are these compliant with FCA regulations?
Yes. Stripe UK is FCA-authorised as a Payment Institution. GoCardless is an FCA-regulated Account Information Service Provider and Payment Initiation Service Provider. Open Banking providers we partner with (TrueLayer, Yapily, GoCardless Instant Bank Pay) are all FCA-authorised AISPs/PISPs.
Get paid faster — add payment links today
Free trial. Connect Stripe UK or GoCardless in under 5 minutes. Send your next invoice with a payment link and see how fast it gets paid.